Chapter 2 - THE TWO-MILLION-DOLLAR LIEElliot abandoned the honeymoon early.
He didn't care about the press statements. He didn't care that Camille threw a crystal vase against the wall of their private Tuscan villa as he packed his bags. He boarded the first commercial flight back to Boston, his mind racing at a dangerous speed.
Fourteen hours later, Elliot slammed open the double wooden doors of the Vance Estate in Beacon Hill.
His father, Marcus Vance, sat in a high-backed leather armchair by the grand fireplace, sipping a glass of scotch while reading the Financial Times. He didn't even look up when Elliot strode across the Persian rug.
“You’re supposed to be in Florence,” Marcus said calmly. “Camille’s father already called me. He’s furious.”
“Did you pay her?” Elliot’s voice echoed through the high-ceilinged room, trembling with suppressed rage. “Did you give Naomi two million dollars to disappear while she was pregnant with my child?!”
Marcus slowly lowered his paper. His cold, gray eyes met his son’s with zero regret.
“I did what any father protecting his empire would do,” Marcus said smoothly. “Naomi Keller was a schoolteacher with a deadbeat father and zero connections. She was a leech. She would have dragged you down into mediocrity. You were destined to run Vance Enterprises, Elliot. You couldn't be burdened with a scandalous pregnancy before the merger.”
“She was carrying your granddaughter!” Elliot roared, slamming his fists down on the mahogany desk between them.
“She was carrying a liability!” Marcus countered, rising from his chair, his tall frame still intimidating despite his age. “I gave that girl a choice, Elliot. I gave her two million dollars to sign a non-disclosure agreement, leave Boston, and never speak your name again. And do you know what your beloved, pure Naomi did?” Marcus smirked cruelly. “She took the cash. She signed the papers without a second thought. She sold you out.”
“You forced her!”
“I offered her a check, and she took it!” Marcus snapped. “If she truly loved you, she would have fought me. She would have stayed in a dingy apartment, eaten canned soup, and fought for your love. But she didn't. She took the money and ran. She chose the cash over you.”
Elliot felt as if he had been punched in the gut. The world spun around him. Was it true? Had Naomi surrendered so easily? Or was his father manipulating the truth, as he had done his entire life?
“Where is she now, Dad?” Elliot asked, his voice deadly dark.
“I have no idea, and you aren't going to look for her,” Marcus said coldly. “If you pursue this, I will have the board strip you of your CEO position. I will freeze your assets. You will have nothing.”
Elliot stared at the old man who had spent thirty years treating him like a chess piece. He slowly pulled his wedding ring off his finger and dropped it onto the desk.
“Keep the assets,” Elliot said softly. “Keep the company. I’m finding my daughter.”
He turned and walked out, leaving his father standing in the shadow of the dying fire. But as Elliot reached his car, his phone buzzed with an incoming call from an unregistered number.
May you like
He answered instantly. “Naomi?”
“Elliot... you need to listen to me carefully,” Naomi’s voice came through the speaker, frantic and breathless. Sirens were blaring softly in the background. “Don't go back to your apartment. Don't go to your office. They’re taking her, Elliot! They’re taking Bella!”
